There are not many veg restaurants in my area and I run large social group that eats out often. To make meals more tolerable I want to bring some foodstuff like soy creamer or milk, daiya or whatever. I'd like to be able to leave a couple things on the table that will blend in just like the salt shakers. They will be in my purse so they really need to be leak proof. Anybody have suggestions? I don't have kids so sippie cups look funny.

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Yes I do want to bring inconspicuous containers for my own use instead of sneaking them in and out of my purse that won't be noticed by the waiter or people around me. I will discuss the subject of my diet with people who ask and are sincerely interested but I normally reserve the topic for after dinner or other times.

Many places I eat at do offer 1 or 2 entrees that are vegetarian but made vegan they are a little naked so I want to make my meal just as enjoyable as anyone eating with me if I can.

_________________"Evolution is a constant process"If God hands you a literal lemon- keep your head up- Build a Lemonade Stand

Maybe call ahead and say you have special dietary restrictions and ask if it's ok to bring your own condiments? Cause usually those things look different at different restaurants...and also they don't usually leave condiments in sealed containers on tables, so I don't know if what you're looking for exists.

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i love the flask-y container that certain maple syrups come in. (i forget the brand, cause i ran out) it's a nice square-ish flask once you take the label off. that'd work for your liquids.

as for solids, you can't go wrong with lock and locks or the old style rubbermaid (the new red lids aren't as secure as the old cream colored lids) of course, they don't look presentable. on the other hand, lock and lock makes a new style called tableware or something that doesn't have the little protrusions on the container. it just has a lip that the lid locks under. once you take the lid off, it just looks like a glass bowl.

Maybe call ahead and say you have special dietary restrictions and ask if it's ok to bring your own condiments?

I agree with this, and I would also ask the restaurant nicely to start carrying what you require. If you are organizing big social groups--you're bringing the restaurants great business. They can easily buy a shelf-stable thing of soy milk or creamer to accommodate you and other vegans/people with dairy allergies. They can buy some Daiya and throw it in the freezer. Good restaurants try to be accommodating, and I think it's better to go through the restaurant than bring in outside food, since that isn't allowed for a variety of reasons that actually do make sense and protect both the customers and the restauranteurs.

You could bring soy milk in a flask. So people will just think you're an alcoholic, but at least they won't ask questions.

This made me laugh out loud.

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I don't typically frequent any one restaurant more than twice a year with my group. My experience has been that most restaurants don't appreciate large groups. What they want is quick table turnover they sell more food and waiters and waitresses make more tips. Restaurants that I frequent on my own time (that are too small for groups) would be pretty accomodating so I'd agree with you that some small independent places will do that for me. I appreciate the links which led me to these

Honestly, I don't really have much problems eating out and not sure exactly what I'd bring to a restaurant if I did. I don't drink coffee except in rare instances but most places that I've been offer soy milk. I also don't eat vegan cheese for the most part.

Even when I don't go to vegan friendly places, I tend to have a decent meal.

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You can get a set of itty bitty containers, they probably only 1/8th of a cup, at a dollar store. I don't know how leak proof they are, but you could put a little bit of daiya or crumbled up protein in them (and you could use more than one, obviously) and they're so small, no one will notice. They also make teeny condiment bottles for bento boxes:

Actually, anything for bento or maybe small tiffin containers would probably work well for the non-leaking thing.

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